Kyiv, 8 February 2023 – The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Ukraine recently congratulated the second wave of students graduating as Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) in Chernivtsi, which was made possible thanks to EU funding. An EMT is a medical professional who, as a first responder, gives emergency care to people outside of or on the way to the hospital.

UNDP and the EU support the training, which is based at the recently relocated Bakhmut Medical College with instructors from the Chernivtsi Oblast Centre of Emergency Medical Aid and Disaster Medicine. The EMTs receive state licenses to provide aid in emergencies and are able to join emergency medical care teams, interact with other medical services, assess the environment for possible threats, assess patients’ conditions, perform triage, provide resuscitation, and transport patients.

Frederik Coene, Head of Cooperation at the EU Delegation to Ukraine, noted that health facilities and services in Ukraine had been seriously disrupted due to the ongoing Russian war of aggression. “Because of the increased number of civilians with severe injuries, there is high demand for well-trained emergency medical care teams,” he added. “As they are under enormous pressure, these specialists should be equipped with all the knowledge and skills they need to save lives. We greatly appreciate the commitment of Ukraine’s medical workers and are proud to support them.”

Jaco Cilliers, interim UNDP Resident Representative in Ukraine, said UNDP is developing comprehensive programmes to support health-care providers to deliver high-quality services, especially in view of the overload during wartime. “The EMT training programme is an extension of a project that began in 2021 with medical colleges in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts,” he added. “Despite all the challenges, we are working with our partners across the country to ensure that emergency medical care teams have the trained personnel they need to protect and serve the people of Ukraine.”

Background

UNDP is supporting the training programme in the framework of the United Nations Recovery and Peacebuilding Programme with the financial support of the European Union. The UN RPP is being implemented by four United Nations agencies: the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Eleven international partners support the Programme: the European Union (EU), the European Investment Bank (EIB), the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine, and the governments of Canada, Denmark, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden and Switzerland.

Media inquiries: Yuliia Samus, UNDP Ukraine Head of Communications; e-mail: yuliia.samus@undp.org